Fertilizer distributor



A. A. HODGES.

- FERTILIZER. DISTRIBUTOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21,.I9ZL- 1,41 5,643, l Patented May 9.1922.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII W 6 v I I III A. A. HODGES.

FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR.

APPLICATION men APR-21.1921.-

1,415,6 13, Patented May 9, 1922.

2 SHEETS- 8H 2.

a L my mnumum specification.

ALEXANDER A. HoneEs, or HEADLAND, ALABAMA. f

- Fmmmzm DISTRIBUTOR.

To all whom'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER A. Honors, a citizen of the United States, residing at Headland, in. the county of new and useful Improvements in Fertilizer Distributors, of which the following is a Thisinvention relatesto improvements in fertilizer distributors, .andjhas" for one of itsobjects to'simplify the construction and improve the .operationof' devices". of this character. f

Another object of this invention isto provide a device of this character having means whereby the fertilizer material is first thoroughly disintegrated and mixed and moved toward the center of tacle and then forcibly discharged therefrom.

With these .and other objects in'viewfthe invention consists of certain novel features of construction as herelnafter shown and described and then specifically pointed out in the claim, and infthe' drawings illustrative preferred embodiment of. the inven-j of the Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved'apparatus ,1

Fig. 2 is a top plan view.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view.-

Fig. 4 is .afllong'itudinal section on't-he "line H ofFig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 ofFig. 2."

The improved apparatus is adapted for disintegrating, mixing and'uniformly dis tributing fertilizer material of variouskinds such as guano, land plaster, compost, and

the like, and. also adapted for disintegrating and uniformly distributing cottonseed and the like, and includes a receptacleor feed hopper of any required capacity and adapt-' ed to be moved over the field-by. any suit-v able power generally by draft animals.

The receptacle is preferably constructed with vertical side members 10 and inwardly and downwardly converging end members 11. At their lower portions the side members 10 are inclined inwardly as shown at 12, while the lower portion of the inclined end members 11. are still further inclined inwardly as shown at13, the portions 12 and 13 coacting to produce a relatively contracted discharge opening to the main receptacle. s

By this means the material will be drawn Specification of Letters Patent;

, Application filed'April 21,

v Henry and State of Alabama, have invented certain the feed recep-' The receptacle or hopperis supported on a suitable oblong" frame represented as a" whole at 14. Rising from the supporting frame 14.- are vertical stay members '15,

which bear against' the outer faces of the side members 10 of the receptacle and stiffen and strengthen the latter and increase the V P ented Mayo, 1922) 1921; -Seria1No. 433,261.; v toward the center ofth'e bottom of the re- 1 ceptaclefrom all sides to insure its'rapid .and complete discharge."

connectionv between the, supporting frame and receptacle. p v

A suitable draft appliance, for instance a pair of thills 16 and a 'singletree attached at 18 to theframe 1A;

Mounted for 'rotationthrough the receptacle is'a"lower',axle l9.with oneend ex tended to receive a relatively small traction wheel 20, thejlatter fast to the axlefand rotative therewith. Attached-to the lower axle- 19 are a plurality'of blades 21,.a

ranged in close proximity and'in pairs and each paircoupled by two clamp bolts 22;

and the pairs disposed at right angles to each other, as' shown inFig. l. The lower axle 19 and the blades 21'are pass'cl'ose tothe discharge opening of the receptacle when theaxle is rotated.

Mounted for rotation through the recep taclej'above the line of the lower a'Xle. 19 is an upper axle 23 with one end extended from the side oppositejto the extension of' the lower axle, and carrying a relatively largetraction wheel 24/fast to the upper axle and rotative therewith,

Attached to the upper'axle 23 within the receptacle are two sets of mixingand' disintegrating blades 25, the. blades being an so located that the outerendsio'f the blad esranged inpairs'an'd each 'pair coupled by g two clamp bolts 26 and the pairs preferably arranged at right angles toeach other, as

s W ie; L

Each of the blades 25 is given acne fourth twist, as shown, with the twists reversely arranged,.so that as the blades are rotated with the axle, theyIoperateto draw the material away from the side walls, and feed it "toward the center, to facilitate the discharge.

The blades 25 being located away from the center ofthe receptacle and the blades 7' 21 being located centrally of the receptacle, do not interfere with each other when rotate ing,'as will be obvious. v I

The discharge opening of the receptacle is substantially square, as illustrated in Figs.

4 and 5 and as indicated by dotted lines in Fi 3.

liocated below the discharge opening of the receptacle is an adjustable discharge controlling device comprising coacting plates 26 pivoted at their ends 28 to bars 29, the latter in turn pivoted at 30 midway between the pivots 28 to the end members 13 of the lower contracted portion of the receptacle.

-One oi"- the bars 29 is extended to pivotally receive an operating rod 31. Pivoted at 32 to the frame portion 14: is alever 33, the latter pivoted at 34: to the rear end of the rod 31.

Pivoted at 34 to the upper end of the lever 33 is an operating bar 35 movable through a keeper 36 on the adjacent side 10 of the receptacle and terminating in a hand grip 37. The member 35 is provided with a plurality of notches 38 to engage the keeper 36 one at a time, to hold the member 33 and the parts associated therewith in adjusted position.

By this arrangement the plates 27 may be adjusted with their confronting edges spaced at any required distance within the range of movement of the bars 29, or to be entirely closed, by simply adjusting the op erating member 35, and held at any desired position by the coaction of the keeper 36 and the notches 38.

By adjusting the plates 27 the amount of material fed from the receptacle may be accurately gaged and the required quantity per acre or other area evenly distributed.

By employing traction-wheels of diti'erent sizes the motion of the axles is direct and at different speeds, the lower axle with its discharge blades operating faster than the upper axle with its disintegrating and mixing blades, thus materially increases the ethciency of the operation.

The material deposited in the receptacle is frequently in relatively large lumps, or clods, but by the novel arrangement and coaction of the parts these clods and lumps are thoroughly disintegrated and pulverized and discharged in relatively finely divided particles and uniformly distributed over the ground. I

The improved apparatus is also useful in mixing and commingling different kinds of material.

The blades 21 and 25 being held only by bolts may be readily adjusted, or broken or impaired parts restored without discarding the remaining portions oi the apparatus.

The blades 21 and 25 serve several purposes, first and distributing them in relatively finely divided parts to the described mechanism, second, the mixers may be utilized to thoroughly disintegrate and commingle material of different kinds and thus avoid the necessity for the preliminary mixing of the ma terial before it is deposited in the receptacle. By reversibly twisting the upper blades they operate to push the material toward the center of the receptacle and downward to the lower fast rotating blades.

Any required number of the blades may be applied to each axle, depending upon the I kind of work required.

It will be noted that the machine operates without the employment of the caster wheel or guiding wheel, thus materially simplitying the construction.

Attached tothe outer faces of the sides 10 of the hopper are stay members 39 to support the outer ends of the upper axle 23, the members 39 being further supported by braces 10.

The preferred embodiment of tion is disclosed in the drawings and set forth in the specification, but it will be understood that any modifications within the scope of the claim may be made in the conpulverizing and cutting up clods the invenstruction without departing fromthe principle of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

What I claim is v An apparatus of the class described comprising a receptacle having a discharge opening, an upper axle extending through said receptacle and adapted to carry agitating means, a lower axle extending through said receptacle and adapted to carry feeding means, a relatively large traction Wheel rotative with said upper axle, and a relatively small traction wheel rotative with said lower axle, whereby the upper axle and its attachment is operative faster than the lower axle and its attachment.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature hereto. 

